Ballew and her friend quickly discovered I-75 was anything but clear early Sunday morning. The thick smoke and fog blinded her, and it was too late to react.

"Probably a second before I saw the back of the semi, I saw a white wall, and I looked at my speed and we were going 60 mph, and I looked at the time, because I expected to die," Ballew said.

It was the exact moment her black sport utility vehicle rammed into the back of an 18-wheeler that had stopped on the highway. The women had to crawl over the seats, getting tossed around as other cars crashed around them. They escaped just in time.

"We made it out about a minute before our car was completely on fire," Ballew said.

Fatal Crashes

Major Backup

FHP Lt. John Gourley made the call to reopen the highway.

The decision was made in part by using a scale called the Low Visibility Occurrence Risk Index.

On the morning of the crash, the LVORI index was a six, which is just below the seven to 10 that would indicate a high risk of crashes because of low visibility.

"It's actually pretty disturbing to think these people's lives could have been saved if they would have made the right decision," Ballew said.

Officials with the FHP said the scale is not absolute.

The final three victims of the crash were identified Thursday as a Pensacola couple and their teenage daughter.

Authorities also said a 15-year-old from Brazil who lost her entire family in the crash will not be deported.